Eagles prep for team, not a QB
— -- PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles are keeping their view of the Tony Romo situation simple. They are preparing for a football team, not a quarterback.
"I don't care," cornerback Cary Williams said. "Jerry Jones could suit up. Jason Garrett could suit up. Suit 'em up. It doesn't matter to me. We're here to contend for the playoffs. We're here to win the Super Bowl. We're on a mission and they're in our way. Period."
"For us, it doesn't matter who plays," inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "We're going there to beat that team."
The Eagles were aware of the news coming from Texas. They'd heard that Romo had an epidural in his back. They wondered if that meant he would be able to play. They know that if he can't, they must take the same approach to the Cowboys' offense with Kyle Orton.
"They run the same offense," rookie safety Earl Wolff said. "They still have great playmakers. Kyle Orton is still a decent quarterback. He's not a bad quarterback. They might switch up their scheme a little bit, but honestly, to us it's still a good team."
Just two weeks ago, facing the Minnesota Vikings without Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder, the Eagles got blown out 48-30. From the outside, and maybe even from the inside, that looked like a game in which the Eagles' defense, especially, overlooked a depleted opponent.
"We experienced that a little bit this year," outside linebacker Trent Cole said. "[ Matt Cassel] stepped up. They beat us."
"I don't know what it was in Minnesota," Ryans said. "I don't know who that team was. That wasn't us. There can't be any letdown. Our playoffs start this week. There's no overlooking anybody."
Defensive coordinator Bill Davis said his approach to the game plan would be the same whether Romo or Orton starts at quarterback.
"You always prepare for their starters to start and be at their best," Davis said. "I don't think the offense changes too much with either one of them. We're preparing for the Dallas Cowboys' best."
And it's not as if the game is against Washington, where the quarterback could be Robert Griffin III or Kirk Cousins.
"I think these two quarterbacks are similar," Davis said. "Tony Romo probably extends the play more than most quarterbacks in the NFL. That's one of the talents and knacks that he has. Kyle Orton is highly efficient. He's a good system quarterback. He's started 70 games -- that's a starting quarterback."
If Orton plays, the Cowboys could rely a bit more on DeMarco Murray and the run game.
"We were anticipating them doing that anyway," Davis said.
As for the theories that the Cowboys are sending out deliberately misleading information, the Eagles mostly shrugged that off.
"I have no idea," Cole said. "I just know what's going on here. Whatever's going on there, we're preparing the same."
"You could play these mind games all you want," Williams said. "The game's going to start at 8:30. Who isn't going to want to show up for that?"
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